Fluid dispensing apparatus



Dec. 17, 1940. s. c. HOPE FLUID DISPENSING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 12, 1939 INVENTOR Swan 6 6 0/ 5 ATTOR EYS Patented Dec. 17, 1940 UNlTED STATES,

rum) nrsrausmc APPARATUS Stanley 0. Hope, Guilford, Conn., assignorto Gilbert & Barker Manufacturing Company, West Springfield, Masa, a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 12, 1939, Serial No. 273,286

This invention relates to dispensing apparatus for fluids and, while the invention is capable of general use regardless of the kind of fluid dispensed, it finds one advantageous use in connec- 6 tion with apparatus for dispensing measured quantities of gasoline.

A common difilculty experienced in dispensing gasoline is that the car to be served is stopped too far from the apparatus to enable it to be 10 served by the usual length of hose, which according to usual practice is approximately ten feet long and hangs in a loop outside the casing of the pump apparatus. One solution of the difficulty is to provide an extra long hose and i6 reel it up inside the housing of the apparatus, or otherwise store it therein, so that it may be manually withdrawn from the housing and automatically retracted, as by a spring actuating the reel to efiect a winding up of the hose. This solution of the problem has the disadvantage that the housing of the apparatus needs to be made larger than usual in order to accommodate the reel or other hose-storing means. Also, the hose is stored in its entirety inside the housing,

wherefore the operator has the work of withdrawing the hose against the force exerted by the wind-up means and holding it withdrawn during the entire length of each period of service.

This invention provides for a difierent and better solution of the problem. It has for an object a solution of the problem by the use of a length of hose which is hung up outside the housing of the apparatus in the usual way in one loop and which can be used in the ordinary 85 way for most of the deliveries, and by storing in the housing additional hose which can be drawn out of the housing by a pull thereon, whenever an additional length of hose is necessary. The cases in which a long hose is necessary are rela- 40 tively infrequent. With the described arrangement, a relatively small portion of the hose need be stored within the housing of the apparatus and this can be done without necessitating any enlargement of the housing, as will later appear.

45 Other objects will appear from the following description and will be pointed out in the appended claim.

The invention will be disclosed with reference 50 to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevational view of a gasoline dispensing apparatus embodying the invention;

F18. 2 is a fra mentary exterior elevational 55 view taken from the right hand side of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view taken on the line H of Fig. 2.

In these drawings, the invention has been shown, by way of illlustrative example, in connection with one well-known form of gasoline dispensing apparatus.

The dispensing apparatus, insofar as the present invention is concerned, need include no more than some means for forcing liquid from a source of supply through a metering'means to a flexible hose having on its terminal end a nozzle. As shown herein, gasoline is drawn up through a suction pipe l5 (adapted for connection to an 15 underground storage tank) by a pump l6 driven by an electric motor I1 and the liquid is forced by said pump through a discharge line which includes rigid piping i8 and a flexible hose I9, having the usual valve-controlled nozzle 20 on 20 its delivery end. Interposed in the piping I8 is a meter 2| of any suitable form for measuring the gasoline dispensed. Such meter drives by a shaft 22 a registering means 23 of any suitable kind, for indicating the quantity and cost, either 25 or both, of the liquid dispensed. It is usual to interpose in the piping l8 some suitable form of separator, such as 24, for freeing the gasoline from air or vapor before it reaches the meter.

The parts, above described, except for the noz- 3 zle and part of the hose, are usually housed inside a suitable casing. As shown herein, the casing comprises a base 25, four angle-iron corner posts 26, upstanding therefrom, a top or dome section 21, front and rear panels 28, and side panels 29. The panels 28 and 29 enclose the space between the base 25 and dome 21. The indications of the registering means 23 are visible through the front and rear panels 28. The motor i'l, pump I6, meter 2|, and separator 24 40 are supported in the usual or any suitable way from said corner posts 26. Usually all these elements l6, l1, 2| and 24, together with the piping iii, are located inside the rectangular area defined by the four corner posts 26. Outside this area, there is a vertical compartment 30 between each panel 29 and the adjacent pair of corner posts 26. One of these compartments is utilized in the present invention as a housing which serves to enclose part of the hose and the retrieving means associated therewith.

As shown in Fig. 1, the left hand compartment 30, or wall, is utilized to store and conceal an inner loop 32 of the flexible hose. The terminal end of the fixed discharge pipe 18 extends into of the hose is mounted. Thus, the hose is mount ed so as to present an outer and exposedloop, and an inner and concealed loop. These loops which are substantially parallel, are interconnected by a connecting part which is located in a vertical plane at right angles to the two vertical planes aforesaid. The hose is guided in anysuitable way, as :by sets of rolls 31. The sheave 33 is vertically movable, so that by pulling outwardly on the exposed part of, the hose, some of the inner and normally concealed part ofthe hose may be drawn out of the housing to extend the length of the outer portion oi the hose. On such outward pull, the hose rides easily through the groups of guiding. rolls 31 and the sheave 33 rises vertically as the inner loop becomes smaller. On release of the hose, the weight of the sheave 33 draws the hose inwardly and restores it to normal position.

The roll groups, referred to, each comprise three rolls 3! havlngrtheir axes located at sixty degrees to one another and all ina common plane and equidistant froma the center of the hose. Each group of rolls is supported in any suitable way in any suitable kind of bracket 38 secured to or supported from one of the corner posts 28.,

The sheave 331s guidedby the walls of thecornpartment 30,-in this case by one ofithe panels 25 and a plate 40 which is suitably secured to a pair of the corner posts 26, as shown. The inner loop 32 of the hose is thus stored in such a way as to be entirely separated from any of the mechanism of the dispensing apparatus and protected against all likelihood of injury.

Preferably, at the bottom of the compartment, a suitable bumper 4| is provided to limit the downward movement of sheave 33 and stop ,the descent of, the sheave in a noiseless manner.

The hose nozzle, when not inuse, is hung up,

on a suitable support 42 and, whenuthus positioned, itblocks movement of a control lever 43 from its ofi" to its on" position. Lever 43, through connections indicated in part at 44, operates the switch 45 for motor H.

In operation, the operator proceeds in the usual way and uses the conventional length oi hose, approximately ten feet, provided by the outside loop unless and until he finds that the outside loopo! hose is not long enough to reach the tank to be serviced. That is, in this particular case,

he removes the nozzle 201mm its support 42, lmoves lever 43 to close switch "and start motor 11. With the piping l8 and hose I! thus filled with liquid under pressure. he proceeds to the tank to be serviced andinserts the nozzle 20 in the illling openingoi the tank, opening the valve of the nozzle. and controlling the delivery by such valve. In the event the hose is not long enough for any particular delivery, the operator then pulls outwardly on the hose and draws out from the housing whatever amount is necessary for the purpose. However, it is the exceptional case when an extra length 01 hose is required and in most cases theoperator is saved the eflort. required with hose-reel dispensers, of drawing out the hose and holding it drawn out against the powerful force or the wind-up spring of the reel.

WhatI claim is:

Gasoline hose and hose handling apparatus of the kind and for the purpose described, comprising in combination, a long hose, a dispensing nozzle at one endand a supply pipe connected at the other end, said hose being arranged in two loops, one extending down and up from said pipe and a weighted sheave in the bight of such loop. the other loop being substantially spaced from the first one and extending down and up to said nozzlefa casing with a supportxfor said nozzle, said casing being of a height substantially equal to the length ,of either loop and of a width substantially equal to the space between said loops, means forming an inside storage well with one wall of said casing andoi' much less width than that of the casing, said well having a width,

onlysuiilcientto guide the hose loop with the weighted sheave and in the plane oi thatloop, the opposite wall of said casing having an opening for the hose to extend, outside and adjacent said nozzle support, hose guides positioned for support of the hose portion between said loops from the top of said well and through said opening, one hose loop being a reserve loop and stored out of sight in saidnarrow well and theother loop being a tree loop of suflicient length, approximately ten feet, to serve alone for all normal operations, and hung in full view outside said casing with the nozzle on said support when the hose is not in use.

STANLEY C. HOPE. 

